The Masked Man's Final Stand
by Emerald Otter
Summary: "You must be so tired."


(Originally written July 10, 2010.)

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**The Masked Man's Final Stand**

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_You must be so tired._

No.

_Come to your mother, Claus._

No.

_Grab my hand and let go of all else._

No.

_You must be so tired._

No.

_Oh, but Claus, sweetheart, that is who you are._

...

_You aren't a robot. _

No.

_You're our son!_

NO.

_Claus... You and Lucas are brothers! _

For the sake of your own sanity, for the sake of all that you have known all your life, you ignore her. You ignore the voice as you always had, ignore the new petite woman that accompanies the troublesome sound.

_Can you hear me? _

You wish you could say no.

_You're Claus. _

Who is Claus?

_Your name is Claus! _

What is a name?

_You're our son!_

What is a son?

PROGRAM ERROR. SYSTEM OVERLOAD. RECALCULATING ESTIMATION OF STRESS LEVELS ON SURGE CANNON A64. ... ... ... OVERHEATING DETECTED IN BARREL TWO OF SURGE CANNON A64. PSI STAMINA LABELED "DANGEROUSLY LOW." RECHARGING SUGGESTED IMMEDIATELY.

WARNING! WARNING WARNING WARNING GLITCH IN VISUAL RECEPTOR 92S4 DETECTED. OVERHEATING. VISUAL RECEPTOR 92S4 CANNOT FOCUS ONTO PRIMARY OBJECTIVE CODE 1 AND SECONDARY OBJECTIVE CODE 2.

ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR

_I love you, Claus, honey. Please._

TARGET DETECTED. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE CODE 1 LABELED "LUCAS." SIGNIFICANCE PENDING. ... ... ... ... SIGNIFICANCE LOST. TARGET AIMED UPON, AIM LOCKED. FIRE? AFFIRMATIVE. NEGATIVE. AFFIRMATIVE. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE CODE 1 DAMAGED 45, 123.

_Claus... _

Who is Claus?

_Stop this... You aren't Porky's robot. You're our son!_

Lucas, oh, Lucas, he stares ahead balefully at you, your silly little PRIMARY OBJECTIVE CODE 1. He's crying, crying, and you think that's so bad because he'd really had a lot of things going for him and his change idea. He is finally growing up, only to fall into relapse.

Poor Lucas. For some reason, Lucas...can't attack. Lucas doesn't know what to do.

"Lucas, look out!" Daddy, he leaps out in front of PRIMARY OBJECTIVE CODE 1 and take the hit from PK LOVE OMEGA (4.3E6 PSI). Daddy falls to the ground. Poor daddy. "Claus, please remember... I've been looking for you for so long..." Daddy takes another hit from PK LOVE OMEGA (4.3E6 PSI). Daddy can't stand up. Poor daddy.

_Claus... _

Who is Claus? You feel like you should know.

_You and Lucas are brothers! _

BROTHER: **BROTH-ER** (NOUN)

1: A MAN OR BOY IN RELATION TO OTHER SONS AND DAUGHTERS TO HIS PARENTS

-A HALF-BROTHER, STEPBROTHER, OR FOSTER BROTHER

-A BROTHER-IN-LAW

-A MALE ASSOCIATE OR FELLOW MEMBER OF AN ORGANIZATION

-A FELLOW HUMAN BEING

-A THING THAT RESEMBLES OR IS CONNECTED TO ANOTHER THING

2: (PLURAL ALSO **BRETH-REN**) MEANING PENDING LABELED "INSIGNIFICANT"

-MEANING PENDING LABELED "INSIGNIFICANT"

EXCLAMATION USED TO EXPRESS HUMAN EMOTIONS LABELED ANNOYANCE OR SURPRISE

DERIVATIVES

**BROTH-ER-LI-NESS **NOUN

**BROTH-ER-LY** ADJECTIVE

ORIGIN OLD ENGLISH, OF GERMANIC ORIGIN; RELATED TO DUTCH AND GERMAN, FROM AN INDO-EUROPEAN ROOT SHARED BY LATIN

BROTHER (NOUN)

1. SIBLING

2. COMRADE, COLLEAGUE, PARTNER, ASSOCIATE, FELLOW, FRIEND

3. MEANING PENDING, LABELED "INSIGNIFICANT"

_Claus..._

BROTHER (NOUN)

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE CODE 1: **PWE**

PRIMARY PHYSICAL TRAIT MARKED AS "BLONDE HAIR"

ATTIRE OF "RED AND YELLOW STRIPED SHIRT"

THREAT LEVEL: **MASSIVE**

INSTRUCTIONS TO TERMINATE ON SIGHT

LUCAS: **LU-CAS**

**P**SI **W**IELDING **E**NEMY

MARKED AS **MASSIVE THREAT**

PRIMARY ATTACKS: **PK LOVE** IN ALL AVAILABLE VARIATIONS, **PK SHIELD**, **PK ATTACK UP**, **PK DEFENSE UP**, **PK FLASH**

PENDING... PENDING...

FURTHER INFORMATION REGARDING ATTACKS OF PRIMARY OBJECTIVE CODE 1 "LUCAS" **PWE** LOST.

TERMINATE ON SIGHT TERMINATE ON SIGHT TERMINATE ON SIGHT

_Claus, honey, aren't you tired?_

No.

_Please, my son, come to me. I want to hold you._

SELF DESCRIPTION

COMMANDER MASKED MAN: **COM-MAND-ER** **MASKED MAN (PSC**)

PRIMARY PURPOSE: TO SERVE LORD AND MASTER, KING PORKY MINCH

COMMANDER MASKED MAN IS IN CHARGE OF MOVEMENT OF **ALL PIGMASK SOLDIERS**, CONTRARY TO DICTIONARY'S DEFINITION OF TERM "COMMANDER." FLAW LABELED "INSIGNIFICANT."

CURRENT OBJECTIVE: SECONDARY OBJECTIVE CODE 2

**SECONDARY OBJECTIVE CODE 2 CLOSE TO FAILURE, IN ORDER TO COMPLETE ORDER PULL THE LAST "NEEDLE" FROM ITS RESTING AREA, FAILURE WILL RESULT IN TERMINATION**

PRIMARY PHYSICAL TRAITS MARKED AS "SURGE CANNON A64," "VISUAL RECEPTOR 92S4," AND "RED HAIR"

ATTIRE OF "PIGMASK GARB SELECTED FOR RANK," "HELMET MODEL 2.3DF4"

THREAT LEVEL: ALLY

**P**SI **W**IELDING **C**HIMERA, BASE 2.64A0

CHIMERA MODEL 2.64A0 BASED UPON MECHANICAL ADVANCEMENTS OF PIGMASK FORCES AND HUMAN VESSEL CODED CODED CODED CODED "SIGNIFICANT"

PRIMARY ATTACKS: **PK LOVE** IN ALL AVAILABLE VARIATIONS, **PK THUNDER** MECHANICAL RECREATION, SHIELD SNATCHING

_Claus, my baby, come here. You must be exhausted. _

No... No! NO NO NO NEGATIVE.

_Claus, it's your mother. It's me._

(Once upon a time, there was a scared little boy. He pretended to be strong and rigid and in control, but that was only because everyone else pretended with him. He was very respected and revered, but only to uphold the illusion of power. A very important illusion that kept many under it powerless.

Oh, he was such a scared little boy! So frightened of relinquishing his feeble grip on the lies.)

You tighten your concentration on PRIMARY OBJECTIVE CODE 1. SURGE CANNON A64 has a false start before managing to reconnect to PSI CORE and releases a wave of electricity.

STRATEGIC ERROR DETECTED. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE 1 IN POSSESSION OF PROTECTIVE FORCE FIELD, 2.4U91 PSI 2.4U

There's a fuzz and white noise. There's

DAMAGE SUSTAINED.

For some reason, PRIMARY OBJECTIVE 1 does not attack. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE 1 just stares at you. He just stares, stricken with some knowledge, his blue eyes wide and seeing, _seeing_ something.

EMOTION SYSTEM 6.92R9 ERROR DETECTED. EMOTION 6.7B24 IN OVERRIDE. LANGUAGE TERM "FRUST2312592019"

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"INSIGNIFICANT." ABORT FILE 6.92R9?

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...

FILE DELETED IN ITS ENTIRETY.

That's better, you think. You feel fine now. VISUAL RECEPTOR 92S4 is still overheating, however, as is SURGE CANNON A64. Irrelevant. The mission must be completed.

You attack.

_Claus..._

Not reaching you this time, not this time, though Lucas seems to stiffen. Lucas seems to hear it. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE 1 has his eyes wide like a Draco before a...a family in the middle of a burning forest, a Draco morphed into some strange, perverse claim of life as it mauls the matriarch and the children are thrust into the river, the cold dark cold river and

_Claus..._

Her voice, it holds a gentle yet firm hold upon you and you curse her.

_Stop this..._

**SECONDARY OBJECTIVE CODE 2 CLOSE TO FAILURE, IN ORDER TO COMPLETE ORDER PULL THE LAST "NEEDLE" FROM ITS RESTING AREA, FAILURE WILL RESULT IN TERMINATION**

_You aren't Porky's robot._

This again? Valiant attempt, but it won't work. She's not on your objective list. She is "IRRELEVANT."

_You're our son!_

You look around. Your VISUAL RECEPTOR 92S4 sweeps the area and procures no scans. "IRRELEVANT" visual receptor finds nothing.

_Claus..._

No.

_You and Lucas are brothers!_

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE 1? If so, it is "IRRELEVANT." It is of no consequence. It means nothing.

_Can you hear me?_

You wish you could say no.

_You're Claus. _

Who is Claus?

_Your name is Claus! _

What is a name?

_You're our son!_

What is a son?

And you grab your head and close your eyes while PRIMARY OBJECTIVE 1 doesn't know what to do.

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SYSTEM OVERLOAD.

SYSTEM CANNOT DECIPHER MEANING OF SUPPOSED TERM. INDEX HAS NO RECORDS REFERRING TO SUCH. FILED LABELED "SIGNIFICANT." FILE POSES NO DIRECT HINDRANCE TO COMPUTING. FILE TRANSLATED, CODE PENDING.

FILE "CLAUS" HAS 0.0000% SIGNIFICANCE, CONTRARY TO LABEL. TRASH FILE?

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FILE DELETED.

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